Hockey's Future Top 50 Prospects Fall 2006: 26-50

[kimzey59]

On our Ranger page it's just one person who does the letter and grades. Not this whole committe business. What am I supposed to explain? What he says is basically what I say. I don't see the issue with my comment.

The issue isn't with your comment; my issue is with what your comment means in regards to the Blues. HOW is it fair for some teams to get to manage their own pages while the Blues(and I'm sure some others) aren't given the same leniancy?

Maybe THIS is the reason that the Blues have had 5 different writers in the last 4 years; 3 of which have completely sworn off this site because of it and another won't even discuss the articles that are produced by the main site. What if the fans that have been crying "bias" for the last 5 years were RIGHT? If you are correct that the NYR writer has free reign over her page while the Blues writer was not granted that ability there is certainly evidence to support those saying bias.

 

[Starsdude]

Not sure why aguy likr Perry or Olesz or Eaves are prospects. These guys are NHL players. How are they differentt than Jokinin Prucha . Is ir because they played less than acertain amountof games. A biy disappointed that Erikkson did not crack the top 50 ahead of guys like Bergenheim but hey if he is as productive as other slights like Jokinin and Daley , I will take it

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Not sure why aguy likr Perry or Olesz or Eaves are prospects. These guys are NHL players. How are they differentt than Jokinin Prucha . Is ir because they played less than acertain amountof games.

Yes. Olesz has 59 GP (he suffered 3 injuries that caused him to miss 23 games last season). Perry played 56 games, Eaves has 58 - all three less than the 65 used as the cutoff.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

The disconnect is that teams can rank players wherever they want without having to talk in a group of people who don't "scout" that specific team and other teams.

This list is made by committee.

Igor Grigorenko is listed at #44 here, but 5th on Detroit's top-20; Valteri Filppula (ranked 2nd on Detroit's top 20 prospects) is behind Igor at #49. According to the intro, five teams placed three players in the top 50 - if Detroit is one of those five teams, then two of Jimmy Howard, Jiri Hudler, and Jakub Kindl won't be on there (I'll put money down we don't see Howard or Kindl) ... meaning either they're misrated on Detroit's top 20, or Grigorenko and Filppula are misrated on the top 50 list.

Kyle Okposo is ranked #50 on the list, #3 on the Islanders; Robert Nilsson (#1 on the Isles top 20) is #32. Where's the #2 guy on the Isles list, Petteri Nokelainen? If he's in the top 25, shouldn't he be #1 on the Isles list ahead of Nilsson?

Eric Fehr is ranked #48 on the list, #4 on the Caps top 20. I'm going to guess we'll see Niklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin in the top 25 ... so where's the Caps #3 prospect, Mike Green?

Lauri Tuokonen is ranked #40 on the list, #4 on the Kings top 20. Again, I'll assume we'll see Patrick O'Sullivan and Anze Kopitar in the top 25 ... so where's the Kings #3 prospect, Brian Boyle?

If these guys mentioned are so good (and I'm not passing judgment on that - I'll leave it for someone else to do), why are they ranked behind other guys who either will end up behind them on the top 50 list or won't show up at all?

Consistency - that's all I'm asking for. A little consistency instead of the feeling that some of these decisions are made by throwing darts at the wall. Even if the top 50 is made by committee, one should be able to trace back to the team rankings and see that they look accurate. Based on where a few of these guys landed, they don't.

 

[Bryzga lol*]

(as a habs fan) I really doubt Latendresse would be in the top 25...but it's hard to believe Kostitsyn and Price would be ahead of him.

 

[JohnnyRyall]

While waiting on the top 25 ... it doesn't like like "the fans" have done too bad ...

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=289923

"Our" top 25 looks to be:

1. Malkin
2. Lehtonen
3. E. Johnson
4. J. Johnson
5. Brule
6. Toivonen
7. Radulov
8. Kessel
9. Backstrom
10. O'Sullivan
11. Kopitar
12. Wolski
13. Weber
14. Semin
15. Toews
16. Ryan
17. J. Staal
18. Schremp
19. Barker
20. M. Staal
21. Carle
22. Rask (HF 26)
23. Montoya (HF 29)
24. Bourdon
25. Smid (HF 31)

... leaving (at least, and perhaps at most) 3 that we missed ...

Since HF included Perry, they aren't counting postseason games as "games played" (which "the fans" did) ... So Getzlaf and Ward are surely 2 of the 3 ... I'm guessing the other is B. Pouliot, maybe Setoguchi, or perhaps even another "prospect" whose postseason pushed him over 65 gp (can't think of one off the top of my head) ... be interesting to compare lists, notes, and complaints when it comes out ...

 

[BuppY]

I just think Smid should be a lot higher.

 

[Gwyddbwyll]

They're probably in "best of the rest" but I find a bit odd that Yandle can win CHL defenseman of the year and not make the top 50 while Radulov's meteoric rise in the same league is likely to put him into the top 10. M-E Vlasic is also right up there with him. I guess Yandle suffers from a double whammy of being drafted by Phoenix and not in the 1st round.

It's a shame Eaves, Perry and Olesz couldnt be left off as they really dont seem like prospects. Perhaps the 65 games needs to be reduced although its probably impossible to draw the perfect line.

Grigorenko and Frolik are in there purely on their mystic reputations - they havent achieved anything noteworthy for quite a long time.

 

[jeff in sc]

you have to love the keen sense of understatement re: rask:

The highly-touted Finnish netminder had a great first full season with Ilves Tampere of the SM-Liiga, posting a slim 2.09 goals against average and an impressive .926 save percentage including a pair of shutouts. Rask also played decently at the WJC, backstopping an overachieving Finnish team to a bronze medal.

"decently"? is that what qualifies as performing "decently" these days?

from iihf:

BEST PLAYERS SELECTED BY THE DIRECTORATE
Award Number Name Team
Best Goalkeeper 30 RASK Tuukka FIN - Finland
Best Defenseman 3 STAAL Marc CAN - Canada
Best Forward 17 MALKIN Evgeni RUS - Russia

i can't wait to read about how decently malkin played at the U20s in the top 25 article!

 

[Vyse64]

They're probably in "best of the rest" but I find a bit odd that Yandle can win CHL defenseman of the year and not make the top 50 while Radulov's meteoric rise in the same league is likely to put him into the top 10. M-E Vlasic is also right up there with him. I guess Yandle suffers from a double whammy of being drafted by Phoenix and not in the 1st round.

It's a shame Eaves, Perry and Olesz couldnt be left off as they really dont seem like prospects. Perhaps the 65 games needs to be reduced although its probably impossible to draw the perfect line.

Grigorenko and Frolik are in there purely on their mystic reputations - they havent achieved anything noteworthy for quite a long time.

I never liked the 65 game cut off either, just too long, I like 45-55 games better.

 

[dinoflint]

Eric Fehr is ranked #48 on the list, #4 on the Caps top 20. I'm going to guess we'll see Niklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin in the top 25 ... so where's the Caps #3 prospect, Mike Green?

In the top 25...obviously!

Of course that would give the Caps 4, and no team did that...

 

[King'sPawn]

Why, has it not healed properly? I was under the impression that it was just a separated shoulder which is nothing as injuries go.

He didn't play in the rookie tourney, and he's participated in light/no contact drills in training camp. His strength still isn't back in his arm, from what I've read.

 

[J17 Vs Proclamation]

They're probably in "best of the rest" but I find a bit odd that Yandle can win CHL defenseman of the year and not make the top 50 while Radulov's meteoric rise in the same league is likely to put him into the top 10. M-E Vlasic is also right up there with him. I guess Yandle suffers from a double whammy of being drafted by Phoenix and not in the 1st round.

It's a shame Eaves, Perry and Olesz couldnt be left off as they really dont seem like prospects. Perhaps the 65 games needs to be reduced although its probably impossible to draw the perfect line.

Grigorenko and Frolik are in there purely on their mystic reputations - they havent achieved anything noteworthy for quite a long time.

I agree, Eaves, Olesz and Perry look abit weird on there. Though, Olesz IMO is still underated. I mean, i may be in the minority, but i'd take him over Ladd every single time. Im guessing people still doubt his offensive upside, but considering he scored a couple of amazing goals last year, he obviously is extremely talented offensively.
Grigorenko is abit of a mystery. Frolik has had one bad year, exactly like Olesz had. I hardly consider that a "long time". I didn't expect him to be in the Top 50, but considering the potential he has, you can understand why he made it.

Regarding Yandle, how many guys ranked 26-50 would you rate below Yandle? I agree, if you wern't drafted highly, and were drafted fairly recently, HF never seems to rank them that highly.

 

[John Belushi]

I think you might be right. I don't remember that. Didn't they just get a sweet lottery spot? Top Canadian team?

They had the 5th overall pick and were expected to choose Gilbert Brule, who I think would have been a better choice than Carey Price.

They did not trade up.

 

[Abyss]

I'm guessing (in no particular order):

Evgeny Malkin
Luc Bourdon
Marc Staal
Jordan Staal
Erik Johnson

Jack Johnson
Phil Kessel
Niklas Backstrom
Jonathon Toews
Bobby Ryan

Brian Lee
Devon Setoguchi
Gilbert Brule
Jack Skille
Anze Kopitar

Ryan Parent
Cam Barker
Alexander Radulov
Travis Zajac
Wojtek Wolski

Robbie Schremp
Shea Weber
Patrick O'Sullivan
Andrej Pavelec (maybe...)
Mike Green (maybe...)

if Toivonen isn't in the top 10 let alone the top 25 I'll be utterly shocked.

 

[Gwyddbwyll]

Regarding Yandle, how many guys ranked 26-50 would you rate below Yandle? I agree, if you wern't drafted highly, and were drafted fairly recently, HF never seems to rank them that highly.

Probably 4 or 5. Yandle was CHL defenseman of the year.. the question should be more why these guys are on instead. Just find it strange that Radulov gets so much (deserved) recognition yet Yandle's achievement is simply to enter fringe awareness.

Frolik is a nice prospect but 'one bad year' should be enough to drop the guy off this elite list. Incidentially Frolik's bad performance was not exactly like Olesz who had a longer track record and turned in some great performances even in his bad year. Olesz also had the excuse of injuries. Frolik's case is weakened further by being outdone on the same team by Tlusty who isnt on the list. Big potential? Sure, but I dont think he's worthy of a top 50 spot but simply a mention in the 'best of the rest' or wild cards. Guys like Tlusty, Yandle and Vlasic deserve that spot more. Seems to me Frolik and Grigorenko are getting on because of name recognition - it's easier for a committee to all agree on someone they've all heard of than other prospects some of them dont know.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

I'm guessing (in no particular order):

Evgeny Malkin
Luc Bourdon
Marc Staal
Jordan Staal
Erik Johnson

Jack Johnson
Phil Kessel
Niklas Backstrom
Jonathon Toews
Bobby Ryan

Brian Lee
Devon Setoguchi
Gilbert Brule
Jack Skille
Anze Kopitar

Ryan Parent
Cam Barker
Alexander Radulov
Travis Zajac
Wojtek Wolski

Robbie Schremp
Shea Weber
Patrick O'Sullivan
Andrej Pavelec (maybe...)
Mike Green (maybe...)

Drop Green and Pavelec, add Cam Ward (he's still eligible according to HF - he's Carolina's #1 prospect) and Hannu Toivonen.

 

[hockeytown5]

Drop Green and Pavelec, add Cam Ward (he's still eligible according to HF - he's Carolina's #1 prospect) and Hannu Toivonen.

Furthermore, drop Parent, Zajac, Setoguchi, Lee...add Semin, Carle, Getzlaf and I have a feeling Benoit Pouliot's on it too

 

[Kafka]

I also was expecting Olesz to be higher, but the league has an increased amount of talents with the recent 2003 and 2005 drafts and the 2006 draft (historicaly, recent draftees are ranked higher than were they should be). Therefore, a player in the top 50 today might have been in the top 20 5 years ago.

 

[Starsdude]

Prospect should refer to guys with 20 games or less. I doubt anyone considers Cam Ward a prospect

 

[JiriHrdina]

Probably 4 or 5. Yandle was CHL defenseman of the year.. the question should be more why these guys are on instead. Just find it strange that Radulov gets so much (deserved) recognition yet Yandle's achievement is simply to enter fringe awareness.

Junior hardware doesn't really mean that a player is a top prospect. Marty Murray, for instance, was WHL player of the year - it never meant he was a great prospect and he never amounted to much of an NHLer.

Its much like people citing junior scoring exploits in these arguments. Sure - they are part of the discussion, but there are some many other factors and criteria to consider.

 

[Talent Analyst]

That Hilarous how Price get underrated ...


Bourdon before Price ???

 

[kostybros]

They're probably in "best of the rest" but I find a bit odd that Yandle can win CHL defenseman of the year and not make the top 50 while Radulov's meteoric rise in the same league is likely to put him into the top 10. M-E Vlasic is also right up there with him. I guess Yandle suffers from a double whammy of being drafted by Phoenix and not in the 1st round.

THOSE ARE NHL PROSPECT.The best CHL players don't make them the best NHL'er. Yandle is fast but very small for a defenseman et maybe they don't know if he's gonna adapt to the nhl level.
Remember corey Locke was the CHL player of the year and he had put more points than perry ect...but he was not on the top list because his game doesn't translate to the nhl.

 

[Baisleyens]

I think you might be right. I don't remember that. Didn't they just get a sweet lottery spot? Top Canadian team?

Yep they were... Crosby was all nervous and stuff on tv 'cause he might go to his favorite team.

I'm guessing Pittsburgh is now his favorite

 

[Teemu]

Three players in the top 25 (probably)